Proven recruiter Nick Saban protests too much

Nick Saban is not happy about the SEC dropping the cap on signees to 25 a year. (The Birmingham News/Mark Almond)

BIRMINGHAM, Alabama - Turn out the lights. The party's over.

It was a nice run while it lasted, but it looks like the SEC presidents have finally done something their football coaches weren't able to do.

The CEOs, by capping the number of signees at 25 per year, have put a stop to Nick Saban.

He must be packing for Lake Burton right now.

Oh, well. At least he'll always have Pasadena.

And if you believe that, you must also believe that Jim Tressel is one of the finest men in the profession, but that's another subject for another day.

It's obvious that last week's trip to Destin was no day at the beach for the Alabama coach. He was the most vocal critic of the roster management proposals on the agenda, but not even his outspoken opposition could keep all 12 of the presidents - including Alabama's Robert Witt - from voting to drop the annual soft cap on signees from 28 to 25.

It wasn't as painful as 28-27, but the way Saban reacted even before the proposal became a rule almost made it seem that way.

Does anyone else believe he protested too much?

What the SEC presidents didn't do in Destin is far more noteworthy than what they did. They didn't limit the number of signees to the number of scholarships available to get the roster to 85 on signing day, plus three to account for attrition, the way the Big Ten does.

They didn't really address the real issue of how you get to 85 at all beyond giving the SEC office oversight on medical exemptions. They didn't make players that show up for summer school count toward that year's total. That idea was discussed but not passed. And they didn't eliminate grayshirting.

The recruiting rules the presidents passed were more symbolic than substantive, but where Saban is concerned, that's not even the point.

If his unhappiness was obvious, it's just as obvious that they've yet to pass the rule that's going to keep him from identifying, targeting, pursuing and landing some of the best prep talent in the country year after year.

Look at the record.

In January of 2008, the NCAA passed a rule preventing head coaches from going on the road during the spring evaluation period to keep them from turning "bumps" with recruits into full-fledged job interviews. It was known as the Saban rule because he'd gained a reputation as one of the biggest bumpers in the business.

Saban didn't like the rule, not one bit, and he didn't mind saying so, but it wasn't what he said about it that mattered. It's what he did about it.

A year later, in February of 2009, after his first spring off the recruiting road, he signed the No. 1 class in the nation for the second straight year, according to Rivals.com.

So the bump rule didn't bump Alabama from the top spot.

In May of 2009, the SEC passed a rule limiting the number of signees to 28. It was known as the Houston Nutt rule because the Ole Miss coach had signed 37 players that year, but he wasn't the only one casting a wide net. Saban and Alabama had signed 32 players in the ground-breaking 2008 class that put the program on a path toward the 2009 BCS Championship.

What did Saban do about that new rule?

In 2010, he signed 26 players to a class that Rivals ranked No. 5 in the nation. In 2011, he signed 22 players to a class that Rivals ranked No. 1.

If you're back-counting at home, that's three No. 1 signing classes in the last four years, even though the SEC and the NCAA have been awfully busy passing recruiting restrictions and media outlets from The Birmingham News to the Wall Street Journal have been awfully interested in studying Saban's roster-management techniques.

Oh, and at the moment, Alabama already has received non-binding oral commitments from 12 players for the class of 2012.

Saban and his staff have faced everything from tougher restrictions to tougher scrutiny to tougher competition in their backyard from Gene Chizik and his Auburn staff. But you know what happens when the going gets tough.